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Hi,

We are looking to upgrade our 1996 Toyota Caldina to a Fielder as the advice we've had is that is as good as the Caldina (which we've had for 10 years, and it's only needed wear and tear type fixes, nothing major).

We're specifically looking at a Toyota Fielder 2005, Engine1794cc, Odometer 97,862km, Transmission Auto. It's $8,000 and they're offering $1,500 for our Caldina (which has 207,000 and although regularly serviced has a couple of minor dents and bad scratches on the body).

The Fielder has a reversing camera but it has been directly imported so it's in Japanese. We would have to replace it with an English version. Is it worth it in this car? And are there any particular pitfalls to buying a car that has not had a NZ owner? Are there any other questions we should be asking?

Thanks heaps.

Hi there,
The price seems reasonable for the km's and considering it's from a dealer.
The vehicle itself is a good choice and a pretty popular option with little problems to mention.
This is generally the biggest issue with the imports and you can spend from $500-$1000+ in order to get an English radio unit with reverse camera fitted. If the engine is cambelt driven, it will be due at 100km if it hasn't been replaced already.
I recommend getting a pre purchase inspection before buying.

Thank you. Yes there is slight disagreement over the number of kms ... I would be tempted to pay a little more ($12k for a 35,000km model) but my husband says it's not that important as they should be ok to 300,000km.